The age profile of
each cruise line is given on the Line Details page. Certain lines
tend to attract or encourage specific age group although this is changing
as the average age for cruising falls. The average age of passengers
will also increase depending on the season (eg outside school vacations)
and the length of the cruise. Families with children tend to take 7
day cruises.

Alternative
Dates

Cruise Selector
will find the earliest vacation departure date to your preferences and
display this on Cruise Listing. There may be later dates available
and these will be displayed on the Cruise Details page if opened.

Cabins

The Ship Details
page gives the number of cabins divided into outside cabins with balcony,
outside with window or porthole, inside cabins and single cabins.

Children

Cruising is becoming increasingly popular with families with
children and many operators provide extensive children's facilities
and programmes. Each line has been rated as follows: Children
Welcome / Children Accepted / Unsuitable for Children - and these
ratings are displayed on the Cruise Lines and Ship Details pages.
Cruise Selector offers the following options for cruising with children
on board:

Yes

includes only Lines where children are "welcome"
but check the Ship Details and cruise brochures for any further information on children's
facilities.

Prefer not

includes Lines where the ships are
"unsuitable" or children are
only "accepted". It is possible that children will be on board
but not in large numbers.

No preference

all Lines are included

Closest
Date

The Cruise Listing
page will display the "Closest Date" if the page has been opened
from Cruise Selector or Cruise From. This date is the earliest
vacation departure date to your preferences. There may be later
dates available and these will be displayed on the Cruise Details page if
opened.

Cruise
Listing (Selected)

This page will be based on your selections
in Cruise Selector and will display a list of cruises showing the cruise line,
ship, name of the cruise, region, closest date to your preferences and
duration of the vacation.

Cruise
Listing (Standard)

This page will be
called from Line Details and Leave From pages. The listing
will normally show the cruise line, ship, name of the cruise, duration and
sailing dates. As many ships operate a schedule of repeat cruises
the cruise dates will be shown as the first and last dates of sailing
together with the number of cruises in the schedule.

Fly
In To / Out From

The Cruise Details
page shows the international airport that you will fly to before your
cruise and the airport you will depart from on returning home. In
some cases this is not the same city as your cruise embarkation point but
passenger transfer arrangements are normally included in your cruise
package.

Origin

The origin of the
Cruise Lines shown on the Line Details page indicates where the line was
formed and often still reflects the nationality of the officers and
ambience. In many cases this has changed with ownership and the
predominance of the American market.

Ports

The number of ports
to be visited is shown on Cruise Details. This number does not include the
port of embarkation and disembarkation.

Passenger Crew Ratio

The Ship Details page provides the number of passengers per
crew member as a rough guide to service levels aboard. This ratio
ranges from outstanding service at 1.5 passengers to over 3 passengers per
crew member. The industry average appears to be around 2.5 but this
is increasing as larger ships come into service with inevitably higher
ratios.

Passenger
Mix

The passenger mix
of each cruise line is given on the Line Details page. This reflects
the nationality of the majority of passengers but you can expect a good
mix of other nationalities aboard most cruises.

Passenger Space Ratio

Calculated by dividing the ship's gross registered tonnage
by the number of passengers to give a tons per passenger figure.
This rather arbitrary ratio is provided on the Ship Details page and can
be roughly interpreted as: below 20 poor; 20-30 average; 30-40 good; 40-50
very good; over 50 excellent.

Pre
and Post Cruise

The Cruise Details
page shows the number of nights in hotel accommodation and the location
city normally included in the cruise package.

Refit

The Ship Details
page shows the date of the last known major refit or refurbishment of the
ship.

Regions

Cruises are
available in all parts of the world - sometimes dependent on season.
Cruises in this database are allocated to regions so you can view only
cruises for that region or the whole world as you prefer. Selection
by region is available as part of Cruise Selector and on the Lines page.

Ship
Itinerary

Shows the list of
cruises planned for the selected ship including the region, name of the
cruise, duration and sailing dates. As many ships operate a schedule
of repeat cruises the cruise dates will be shown as the first and last
dates of sailing together with the number of cruises in the schedule.

Ship Size

Ships have been sized on the basis of a
combination of their tonnage and maximum number of passengers carried as
follows:

Very
Small

Under
10,000 tons

Small

Up to 25,000 tons

Up to 1000 passengers

Medium

Up to 60,000 tons

Up to 2000 passengers

Large

Over 60,000 tons

Over 2000 passengers

Huge

Over
100,000 tons

Over
3000 passengers

Ship Rating

The ratings,
which reflect price levels and facilities, could be interpreted as follows:

Budget

Older ships providing value for money
cruises.

Standard

Older ships providing
good food and
service or fairly new ships with a wider range of facilities.

Superior

Predominantly new ships serving what is
becoming the mass market. Reasonably sized accommodation on
attractive ships providing good food, service and entertainment.

Premier

Classier
with more
space and better service.

Luxury

True luxury, excellent cuisine and
personal service in spacious and elegant surroundings.

Tonnage

Gross registered tonnage is not the ship's weight but rather
the amount of enclosed space within the ship's hull. One ton equals
100 cubic feet of space.

To
Visit

The Cruise Details
page lists the ports on the cruise itinerary. Under the heading of
"To Visit" it displays for each port some of the places of
interest that can be visited and activities available. Space limits what
can be shown at this time.

Vacation
Days

The number of days
you can expect to be away. This will normally include the day of
departure and return.

Wheelchair cabins

Cabins that have been specially designed or adapted for
passengers with wheelchairs.

Wheelchair access

Indication of the access available to all the public areas
of the ship. Ratings are: Very Good; Good; Acceptable; Unsuitable.